The final two events of Papua New Guinea’s APEC-hosting year are fast approaching. The APEC Leaders Meeting and CEO Summit will be the highlights of APEC Leaders Week, to take place from 12 to 18 November, and thousands of delegates will be coming to Port Moresby from all over the APEC region. Here’s what to expect.

Parliament Haus, Port Moresby, with the newly-completed Independence Boulevard directly behind. and the circular International Convention Centre to the right. Credit: Aaron Chin

1. Public holiday on 16 November

   Friday 16 November will be a Public Holiday in Port Moresby only. Last week, Prime Minister O’Neill said there would be only one public holiday, after speculation the government was planning to declare two.

   ‘We are trying to create an environment where it is business as usual,’ he told a Port Moresby business meeting last week. ‘The public holiday is to ensure that there is limited inconvenience to the public.

   

   The key areas affected by APEC and the connecting routes between them.

   ‘The weekend will be a normal weekend. The Leaders Meeting has been deliberately held on a Saturday and a Sunday.’

   Diversions and traffic management are already in place around Port Moresby but, from one minute past midnight on Friday until Monday 19 November, the APEC Primary Route connecting the airport to Waigani via the Kumul Flyover and Sir John Guise Drive and into Town along the Poreporena Highway will be closed to non-APEC traffic.

2. Jacksons International Airport to remain open

   Port Moresby’s Jacksons International Airport will remain open throughout, with most VIPs flying into the country outside of peak times to avoid too much disruption to scheduled flights. Most leaders are expected to fly in on Friday 16 November—hence the declared public holiday.

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   The airport car park and VIP transit facility are two of one of several land restricted areas (click for map), however.

3. Port to remain open

   While Port Moresby’s port at Motukea Island will remain open, there will be changes to its operations to accommodate cruise ships, which are arriving in PNG to provide accommodation for delegates.

   The port and surrounding harbour are part of a 10 knot maximum speed Special Event Zone (click for map), with cruise ship locations and the sea around APEC Haus being restricted maritime zones.

4. Concluding APEC Senior Officials Meeting

   Port Moresby’s International Convention Centre will be the location for the last SOM meeting of the year, to be held on 12 and 13 November.

5. APEC Ministerial meeting

   PNG’s Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato will host the Ministerial Meeting at the International Convention Centre on 15 November.

6. The CEO Summit

   Organised by the APEC Business Advisory Council, the CEO Summit will be held on the cruise liner Pacific Explorer from 15 to 17 November. The ship will be moored close to downtown Port Moresby.

   World leaders scheduled to address the Summit include President of China Jinping Xi, Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahathir Bin Mohamad, Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, and Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison.

   Business speakers lined up for the Summit include Patrick Pouyanne (Chairman and CEO, Total), Raymund Chao (Chairman Asia Pacific, PwC), Scott Price (Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, UPS), Pierre Eladari (CEO, Puma Energy Global), Denis O’Brien (Chairman & Founder, Digicel Group), H.E. Carrie Lam (Chief Executive, Hong Kong), Peter Botten (Managing Director, Oil Search), Ayesha Khanna (Co-Founder and CEO, ADDO AI) and Terry Brady (President, UL).

7. APEC Gala Dinner

   The official Gala Dinner will take place at Port Moresby’s brand new Kutubu Convention Centre, part of the Star Mountain Plaza development which also includes the new Hilton Hotel, on the evening of Saturday 17 November. What will the leaders wear? This is the night when the leaders dress in clothing proposed by the host country.

8. APEC Leaders Meeting

   The APEC Leaders Meeting, the culmination of PNG’s APEC year, will take place at APEC Haus, Ela Beach, on Sunday 18 November. The day before, the same venue will be used for dialogues with Pacific leaders and with ABAC. The area will be in security lockdown, so steer clear.

9. Visiting PNG?

   Looking for accommodation during APEC Week? Most of Port Moresby’s main hotels are expected to be fully booked. Also, note that PNG’s visa-on-arrival system has been suspended for security reasons until 30 November.